SSSR denies confronting Sahuarita official over Copper World | Local News

SAHUARITA, Ariz. (KVOA) – Save the Scenic Santa Ritas has issued a demand letter to Sahuarita officials seeking records about accusations that the environmental group confronted a town council member at his residence regarding his stance on the Copper World mining project.

The demand letter comes after the Green Valley News published a story quoting Sahuarita Police Department Commander Manny Amado. According to the newspaper, Amado claimed three individuals identifying themselves as representatives of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas drove from Phoenix and confronted Council Member Ed Lytle in his driveway on Sept. 10. The organization is based in Tucson, and most of its supporters live in Southern Arizona, SSSR officials said.

“It is extremely irresponsible and unprofessional that Commander Amado made public statements claiming members of SSSR were responsible for this incident without first conducting any further investigation or obtaining a statement from SSSR,” attorneys Adriane Hofmeyr and Rui Wang wrote in the letter.

The environmental organization denies any involvement in the alleged encounter. According to the group, neither of its two paid staff members were in Sahuarita that day, and the organization has no formal membership structure despite having several thousand newsletter subscribers.

“No one from SSSR was involved in this alleged incident and SSSR repeatedly made that clear to the Green Valley News before it published an article that is a textbook example of irresponsible and unethical journalism,” SSSR Executive Director John Dougherty said.

Dougherty contacted the Sahuarita Police Department on the day the story was published, requesting an opportunity to provide a statement. The department did not return his call before issuing its statement to the newspaper, SSSR officials stated.

SSSR has requested the police report for the alleged incident and stated it will pursue all legal options to determine whether the confrontation occurred and who was involved.